4 December 1214The death of King William the Lion at Stirling. He received
his nickname from later historians due to his adoption of the lion (lyon)
rather than the traditional boar for his standard. Born in 1143, the
second son of Henry, Scottish Earl of Northumberland, whose title he
inherited in 1152, he was forced to surrender it five years later to King
Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189). In 1165, William succeeded his
brother, King Malcolm IV ('the Maiden'). In 1174, determined to regain
Northumberland, he invaded England but was captured at Alnwick. He was
only released after recognizing English overlordship of his kingdom and
the supremacy of the English. William was able to overturn the former
circumstance by a substantial payment to England's new king, Richard I
(reigned 1189-1199), who needed large sums to fund the Third Crusade. The
Scottish bishops were successful in their efforts to remove the latter
obligation when Pope Celestine III ruled in 1192 that the Scottish church
owed obedience only to Rome. Conflict with England continued over the
issue of Northumberland until 1209 when King John (reigned 1199-1214)
forced William to renounce his claims. During his long reign, William
developed an effective central administration that enabled him to defeat
rebellions in Galloway and Ross and consolidate his authority throughout
Scotland. He chartered many of the major burghs and founded Arbroath
Abbey, which was dedicated to St. Thomas Becket and became one of the
richest Scottish establishments by the time of his death. He was married
to Ermengarde de Beaumont in 1186 and they had four children: his
successor, Alexander II, and three daughters who all married Englishmen.

6 December 1768The first publication of The Encyclopedia Britannica,
the oldest and largest English language general encyclopedia, in
Edinburgh. Conceived by printers Andrew Bell and Colin MacFarquhar and
edited chiefly by the antiquary William Smellie, the entire first edition
was completed in 1771 comprising three volumes containing 2,391 pages and
160 copperplates engraved by Bell. It’s primary merit was to facilitate
reference by the combination of lengthy and comprehensive treatises with
many shorter dictionary like articles on technical terms and other
subjects. Numerous revisions and supplements have continued, especially
the major revision of the 15th edition in 1985, with the complete set at
thirty-two volumes. Britannica became the first internet based
encyclopedia when it debuted on the World Wide Web in 1994.

8 December 1542The birth of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Linlilthgow. The only
surviving child of King James V (reigned 1513-1542) and Mary of Guise, the
infant Queen was a pawn between pro-English and pro-French factions. When
the latter gained ascendancy, the result was the ‘Rough Wooing’ of
1544-1545 when English armies of Henry VIII ravaged the borderlands hoping
to force a marriage between Mary and Henry’s son Prince Edward. In 1548,
she was safely removed to France and remained there for the next 13 years
while the pro-English faction eventually emerged victorious in Scotland.
In 1558, she married the French Dauphin, who became King Francis II in
1559 but died a year later. On the accession of her cousin Elizabeth I in
England in 1558, Mary became heir presumptive to the English Crown and
many Catholics thought she had the better claim. After returning to
Scotland in 1561, she recognized the reformed (Protestant) Church while
practicing Catholicism in private. In 1565, she married Henry Stewart,
Lord Darnley, though the marriage turned sour as he and several Protestant
lords murdered her Italian favorite, David Riccio, in her presence.
Despite this turmoil, she gave birth on 19 June 1566 to the future James
VI of Scotland and later James I of England. Darnley was murdered the
following year, perhaps with her connivance, and she married James
Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, shortly thereafter. The resulting scandal led
to her overthrow and defeat at the battle of Carberry in June and the
succession of her infant son. In 1568, she escaped imprisonment, was
defeated at the Battle of Langside, and fled to England where Elizabeth
kept her confined for many years. The focus of many Catholic plots against
Elizabeth, Mary was executed at Fotheringay on 18 February 1587. She was
buried at Peterborough but removed to Westminister Abbey in 1612 by her
son who had succeeded the childless Elizabeth in 1603.

9 December 1165The death of King Malcolm IV at Jedburgh after a
brief reign of 12 years. The eldest son of Henry, Scottish Earl of
Northumberland, and a grandson of the great King David I, he proved to be
a rather unfortunate and ineffective ruler. He was known as 'The Maiden'
perhaps because of his gentle disposition and celibacy, although he may
simply have been viewed as too youthful and effeminate. In any event, his
reign was riven with chaos and war. He was able to defeat a rebellion in
Galloway and was fortunate to survive a mainland incursion from the great
Somerled the 'Norseslayer,' Lord of the Isles, who advanced up the Clyde
to Renfrew in 1164 but died shortly thereafter. Malcolm was not so
fortunate in dealing with the King of Norway, who sacked Aberdeen, or King
Henry II of England, who forced Malcolm in 1157 to return the northern
English counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Northumberland which
David I had worked so hard to acquire. Malcolm was only about twenty-four
when he died and was succeeded by his more forceful brother William the
Lion.

10 December 1824The birth of George MacDonald, clergyman and writer, at
Huntly, Aberdeenshire. The son of a farmer, he graduated with a Science
degree from King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1845. He soon moved to London,
where he studied theology at Highbury Technical College, 1848-1850, and
served briefly, 1850-1855, as a Congregational minister before starting a
career as a writer. He produced many diverse works: allegorical romances
such as Phantases: A Faery Romance for Men and Women (1858),
historical novels like St. George and St. Michael’s Wind (1871),
Scottish based stories such as Malcolm (1868), and, above all,
children’s fairy tales like At the Back of the North Wind (1871)
and The Princess and Curdie (1888). His reputation was made
primarily by his work on fantasy and fairy tales, which greatly influenced
noted twentieth century writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He served
from 1859 as a Lecturer at Bedford College, London, and in 1877 was
awarded a Civil List Pension. In later life, ill health forced him to
drier climates and he died in Bordigherra, Italy in 1905.

12 December 1574The birth of Anne of Denmark, wife of King James the Sixth
and First, and thus Queen of Scotland (from 1589) and England (from 1603)
until her death in 1619. It is said that she did not walk until age 9 but
seems to have made up for this in later life as she was quite fond of
dancing and expensive clothing. Her husband, James, was an odd man who
combined a strong intellect with slovenly habits and tended to prefer the
company of clever young men to his wife or other women. Strangely enough,
they appear to have had a relatively stable marriage and produced seven
children though three died very young and eldest son Henry at age 18.
Daughter Elizabeth married against Anne wishes the Elector Palatine (in
Germany) and became the grandmother of the future King George I, the first
of the Hanoverian kings of Great Britain. The only surviving son was the
future Charles I who would be executed by Cromwell in 1649 after plunging
the kingdoms into years of civil war. It is said that when Charles was
young and dreadfully ill his obstinate refusal to take his medicine
prompted his mother to exclaim that "he would live to plague three
kingdoms with his willfulness." She was more prophetic than she knew.

14 December 1730

The birth of James
Bruce, the first modern explorer of Africa, near Larbert in Stirlingshire.
He studied law at Edinburgh University and became interested in Moorish
Spain during a European tour. After the death of his father in 1760, he
became Laird of Kinnaird House and revenues from coal mining on his lands
provided the financial resources for travel and adventure. He served as
Consul General in Algiers, 1762-1765, where his quarrelsome personality
alienated both local and British associates. However, during this time he
learned Arabic and traveled among the Berbers in North Africa and to the
Aegean and Levant as well. From 1768 to 1772, he had the adventures on
which his fame rests. He traveled up the Nile River in Egypt, to the Red
Sea port of Massawa in Eritrea, the Ethiopian imperial capital of Gondar,
and the Sudanese kingdom of Sennar. During this sojourn, he observed the
flow of the Blue Nile from its source in Lake Tana and gathered important
details of native history and culture. He returned to Britain in 1774 and
became a member of the Royal Society, retired to Kinnaird in 1776 where he
married Mary Dundas, and published his well-received magnum opus Travels
to Discover the Source of the Nile in 1790. In April 1794, while working
on a second edition, he died after falling down a flight of stairs.

16 December 1332The Battle of Annan in Dumfriesshire fought between Bruce
loyalists and Balliol supporters. A son of King John Balliol, who was
deposed by Edward Longshanks in 1296, Edward Balliol spent many years in
France before being recalled to England in 1324. Despite the 1328 peace
Treaty of Edinburgh, the death of Robert the Bruce in 1329 and succession
of his young son David II was a grand opportunity for both Balliol and the
English to make trouble in Scotland. In 1322, Balliol sailed from the
Humber with an English-backed force of about 1,500 ‘disinherited’ men,
so-called because their lands had been confiscated by the Bruce Monarchy,
and landed at Kinghorn in Fife in early August. At the Battle of Dupplin
Moor, they used superior position and tactics to rout a larger force
commanded by the Guardian, Donald, Earl of Mar, who fell with some 3,000
of his men. Six weeks later Edward Balliol was crowned at Scone. In
December, Sir Archibald Douglas, ‘the Tyneman,’ became the latest Guardian
for David II and wasted no time. He gathered an army of about 1,000 men,
which included Robert the Steward (later Robert II) and John Randolph, and
made a surprise attack on Balliol. The dawn assault killed about 100 of
Balliol’s men and forced him to flee by horseback to Carlisle in England.
He managed to retain English support and accompanied several of their
later and largely inconclusive invasions of Scotland. Finally, in 1356,
Edward III dismissed him with a pension and he retired to Picardy in
France where he died in 1364.

20 December 1805The birth of Thomas Graham, the father of colloid
chemistry, in Glasgow. Though his father wanted him to be a clergyman, he
studied Science at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities. He began teaching
at Mechanics Institute in 1824, becoming Professor in 1830. His early
interest was in the study of gases and, in 1831, he established a law in
his name that stated that the solubility of a gas is dependent on the
pressure on that gas. He also studied phosphoric acids and was able to
delineate the difference between meta-, ortho-, and pyrophosphates. In
1837, he became Professor of Chemistry at the University of London and
began publishing texts for students called Elements of Chemistry. In 1841,
he founded and was first President of the Chemical Society. In his later
years, he studied the diffusion rates of chemicals through membrane by the
process of Osmosis. He named substances that passed easily 'crystalloids'
and those that did not 'colloids.' By purifying colloids he invented the
process of Dialysis. In 1866, he began studying metals and was the first
to advocate that ethanol be poisoned to prevent its consumption. He died
in London in 1869. He was remarkable in his time for first conducting
careful research, then conscientiously forming his theories, and finally
publishing his results and conclusions.

21 December 1988The destruction of a Pan American Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland. The 747 commercial airliner was en route from
London's Heathrow Airport to JFK in New York when it blew up in mid-air
and fell to the ground near the Scottish Borders. All 259 passengers and
crew were killed with a total of eleven local people on the ground when
the plane crashed. A major police investigation was mounted immediately
and continued for a year involving not only the local force from Dumfries
and Galloway, but law enforcement officers from around the world,
including the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It was
concluded that a bomb caused the crash and suspicions focused on state
sponsored terrorism from Libya, Iran, or Syria. In 1991, two Libyans were
charged but their government refused extradition. In 1992, the United
Nations Security Council imposed economic sanctions against Libya who
appealed to the World Court at the Hague. In 1998, a compromise was worked
out with the suspects surrendered in 1999 to be tried before a panel of
three Scottish judges at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. The trial,
2000-2001, involved allegations of the largest mass murder in Scottish
legal history and was the first occasion that a Scottish criminal court
sat abroad. It was also the first time that charges of such seriousness
were heard without a jury. The Scottish judges acquitted one of the
accused, a Libyan Arab Airlines official, while the second, an
intelligence agent, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment,
pending an appeal.

25 December 1950The Stone of Scone, otherwise known as the Stone of
Destiny, taken from Westminster Abbey by four Nationalist students: Kay
Matheson, Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, and Alan Stuart. This block of
Sandstone has been revered for centuries as a holy relic and had been used
from at least the 9th century as part of the enthronement
ceremony of Dalriadic, Scottish, English, and British sovereigns. The
legend is that it was used by Jacob as his pillow in biblical times and
then transported through Egypt, Sicily, Spain, and Ireland before coming
to Scotland and finally residing at Scone in Pershire. Edward Longshanks
stole it in 1296 when he invaded and deposed John Balliol and placed under
the Coronation Throne at London’s Westminster Abbey. The Christmas Day
1950 removal prompted a massive manhunt but the Stone was only recovered
in April 1951 after being symbolically placed at Arbroath Abbey, the site
of the famous 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, which asserted Scottish
independence from England. The Stone was used for the 1953 coronation of
Elizabeth II and surprisingly returned to Scotland in 1996. To this day,
much speculation abounds as to whether the stone stolen by Longshanks in
1296, lifted by the students in 1950, recovered by authorities in 1951,
and returned to Scotland in 1996 are one and the same.

28 December 1879The Tay Bridge disaster occurred in which 75 people were
killed when the structure collapsed under the train they were riding on
during a storm. Approved by Parliament in 1870 and opened in 1878, the
single-track railway bridge, crossing the Tay estuary from Wormit in Fife
into the city of Dundee, was almost two miles long and 88 feet. The
designer, Thomas Bouch, had just been knighted when the accident occurred.
The subsequent inquiry, whose findings were published in July 1880, found
that Bouch had not made sufficient allowance for wind pressure on the
viaduct and the contractor, who was not properly supervised, had used
imperfect metal castings. Bouch, who was widely blamed for the tragedy,
was dismissed from the Forth Bridge Project and died of ill health brought
on by his ordeal shortly thereafter. In July 1887, a second, two-track
railway bridge operated by the North British Railway was opened a few
yards west of the site of the first bridge.

31 December, Every YearHogmany, an important day in the Scottish calendar to
'clear out the old' and get ready for the 'new'. Every home in Scotland is
cleaned thoroughly, the larder filled, the beds changed, and the people
put on their best clothes to bring in the New Year. Traditionally, church
bells would ring in the New Year at exactly midnight. They would be joined
in Glasgow and other ship building areas with the great sound of all the
ships horns going off. Traditionally, the families stayed in their own
homes to 'Ring in the New' and then friends would go out and 'First Foot'
each other. A ‘First Foot’ carries a 'dram of whiskey', a piece of
shortbread and a lump of coal to be given to the host along with wishes
for a "Guid New Year'. The gifts symbolize plenty of drink, plenty to eat,
and heat from the fire throughout the year. Once all the first footing has
been carried out parties take over with drinking, singing, and playing of
bag pipes Many also attend Church for a 'Watch Night Service' where they
pray for a Guid New Year for everyone. There are many songs associated
with New Year but the most important one is Auld Lang Syne, which
symbolizes remembrance of friends and promises made and to be kept and
just generally wishing each other well. Scots also sing a song called 'A
Guid New Year' which is a song that translates into a Good New Year to one
and all.

31 December 1720The birth of Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart,
otherwise known to history as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'the Young
Pretender', in Rome. A grandson of the exiled Roman Catholic King James II
and VII (reigned 1685-1688) and son of James Edward, ‘the Old Pretender,’
Charles was raised as a Catholic and trained for war. During the War of
the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), he landed with a small Entourage on
the West Coast of Scotland in July 1745 and raised the Highlands in
revolt. He entered Edinburgh on 17 September with about 2,400 men and,
four days later, he routed Sir John Cope's army at Prestonpans. In
November, he invaded England with about 5,500 men and marched toward
London. He made it as far as Derby before his officers, discouraged by
lack of French and English support and frightened by the prospect of
facing 30,000 government troops, forced him to retreat into Scotland.
Despite a victory at Falkirk, much of his army melted away, and on 16
April 1746, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, finished off the rest of
it at Culloden Moor, near Inverness. For the next five months, Charles
avoided pursuing British soldiers with considerable help from loyal
supporters, Flora Macdonald in particular, and finally escaped by ship to
France. In Europe thereafter, Charles tried to rally support but his
increasingly drunken behavior alienated his friends. After settling in
Italy in 1766, the major Roman Catholic powers repudiated his title to the
British throne and he died there in 1788. Romanticized through song and
legend, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' has become an enduring national hero of
Scotland.

By William John Shepherd

Note On Sources:
Some dates are based upon concise chronologies published by Ronald
McDonald Douglas in his Scottish Lore and Folklore (1982) and John
Wilson McCoy in the pages of The Highlander magazine in 1997.
Additional dates and information have been gleaned from my varied readings
in Scottish history. These sources include but are not limited to the
following: Brown, P. Hume. A Short History of Scotland (1908,
1961); Donaldson, Gordon and Morpeth, Robert. A Dictionary of Scottish
History (1996); Fisher, Andrew. A Traveller's History of Scotland
(1990); Gerber, Pat. Stone of Destiny (1997); Gordon, Ian Fellowes.
Famous Scots.(1988); Keay, John and Julia (eds.). Collins
Encyclopedia of Scotland (1994); Mackie, J.D. A History of Scotland
(1964, 1991); MacLean, Sir Fitzroy. A Concise History of Scotland
(1970, 1988); Prebble, John. The Lion in the North (1971, 1973);
Sadler, John. Scottish Battles (1998); Smout, T.C. A History of
the Scottish People, 1560-1830 (1969, 1998); Traquair, Peter.
Freedom's Sword: Scotland's Wars of Independence (1998); Warner,
Philip. Famous Scottish Battles (1975, 1996), and the
Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

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